Willow Creek-Lurline Wildlife Management Area is located in the Sacramento Valley of

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. The landscape is very flat, bordered by the Sierra and Coast ranges and surrounded by intensive agriculture (

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

and other grains). The objective of this wildlife management area is to protect fall/winter habitat for waterfowl through the acquisition of conservation

easement An easement is a nonpossessory right to use and/or enter onto the real property of another without possessing it. It is "best typified in the right of way which one landowner, A, may enjoy over the land of another, B". An easement is a propert ...

s on privately owned

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...

s. It is not open to the public. Approximately lie within the approved acquisition boundary, of which about are privately owned for the purpose of

waterfowl hunting Waterfowl hunting (also called wildfowling or waterfowl shooting in the UK) is the practice of hunting ducks, geese, or other waterfowl for food and sport. Many types of ducks and geese share the same habitat, have overlapping or identical hunt ...

. Conservation easements have been acquired on , requiring landowners to maintain land in wetlands. Central Valley wetlands are critical for

Pacific Flyway The Pacific Flyway is a major north-south flyway for migratory birds in the Americas, extending from Alaska to Patagonia. Every year, migratory birds travel some or all of this distance both in spring and in fall, following food sources, heading ...

waterfowl, with 44 percent wintering in the Sacramento Valley. As wetlands of the Central Valley have been lost (95 percent over the last 100 years), waterfowl have become increasingly dependent on the remaining wetlands in the Sacramento Valley.

References

Area website

External links

Willow Creek-Lurline Wildlife Management Area website

{{authority control National Wildlife Refuges in California Wetlands of California California Department of Fish and Wildlife areas Protected areas of Colusa County, California Geography of the Sacramento Valley Natural history of the Central Valley (California) 1985 establishments in California Protected areas established in 1985